1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for tracking workflow.
2. Background of the Invention
In situations where a business receives multiple tasks or jobs, it becomes important to track and manage the various jobs. Without proper management oversight, jobs can be delayed, lost, or remain incomplete. In some cases, the parties that have been delegated those jobs, either through inattention or some other mistake, fail to complete jobs on time and under budget. These sorts of problems are costly to the business and can go undetected, causing additional problems.
Manual efforts to track jobs and tasks have been cumbersome and time consuming to use. In some cases, manual systems use routing slips. The goal is to properly route a paper file containing information, documents and other items related to a particular job, through various offices or personnel throughout a business.
After the first person on the routing slip performs their task, the file is then sent, usually via interoffice mail, to the second party on the list. After the second party completes his or her task, the file is then sent to the third party. This process continues until all of the parties have completed their tasks. One problem with this manual system is that only the party that is in current possession of the file knows where the file is located. Other parties, including management, do not know the location or status of the file.
There have been attempts to automate this manual routing process, but related systems have been difficult to use and have had very limited functionality. For example, related systems are not able to track, troubleshoot, or adequately manage the jobs and tasks related to a business.